Naxal threat to Dravid, Pawar, Dhoni

Madan Kumar,
Ranchi

|

Updated: May 27, 2007 11:13 IST

The police in Jharkhand were on Saturday investigating the authenticity of a letter that speaks of Naxalites sending death squads to kill Team India skipper Rahul Dravid, wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and three Indian cricket board officials.

The handwritten letter, suspected to be an internal communication, was found during a raid on a Naxalite hideout in Dantewada region in neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Friday.

It says that a joint group of Naxalites from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh has decided to kill Dhoni, Dravid and BCCI chief Sharad Pawar. The board’s Niranjan Shah and Rajiv Shukla were also named. “All five are promoting cricket — a sport of the elite class — and also leading a luxurious life at the expense of the hard-earned money of the common man,” the letter says.

The letter speaks of a strike team that followed Dhoni in his hometown Ranchi recently. Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda said the letter was being taken seriously and Dhoni’s security would be reviewed, if necessary. “But before providing more security to Dhoni, the government will like its agencies to find out whether the letter is genuine,” Koda said.